I would just like to remind people quoting India as “Intolerant Nation”, that you’re talking about intolerance of that land where Mahmud Ghaznavi invaded the Somnath Temple still we gave him another chance; you’re talking about that land where we tolerated British for more than 200 years; you’re talking about the nation where everytime ceasefire violation is done by Pakistan and we don’t seek to destroy their nation; you’re talking about that nation where we are still tolerating the disrespectful remarks and gestures for our mother nation! There are many ongoing debates regarding this issue but people please, this nation has given a lot to all of us, if you cannot be the change; then please do not pass disgraceful remarks for the country you are living in.

Its not my fault , that i look short
you tease me and make me feel lonely!

Its not my fault, that I am black
Then why am I bullied, should i feel pitied?

Its not my fault that I am a girl
is it such a crime, that i should live with guilt?

Its not my fault, that I am gay
should i be treated like a prey?

Its not my fault, That i am disable
Is that why i am socially unaaceptable?

Its not my fault that, I look ugly
If only our eyes saw souls
instead of bodies
how very different, our ideas of beauty would be!

You look at me but you don’t see me.
You speak to me but you talk down to me.
Have you ever felt like a prisoner in your own body?
Have you ever had a crowd stare at you with humiliating pity?
I’m a person too,
I’m sick and tired of being overlooked,
You will hear my voice.
I won’t be ignored,
Why must I be ignored?
I will stand up for myself
Using all my strength
No one will ever laugh at me
No one will look down to me!

All humans started life the same way, we are all equal, its just how we grow up, how we are taught, how we treat our individual life that makes it unequal.

No one is born as Hindu, Muslim, Christian; no person is religious or atheist by birth, we all are born as humans and it is our society that discriminates and teaches us the same. Each and every belief is made by us, there is no GOD who came and told us how to behave and what to believe. Every religion and belief is made by Humans only.

It is therefore our right to choose, whether we want to be religious or atheist, gay or lesbian, hindu or muslim, whether we want to follow any religion, belief or not? No one has the right to discriminate on the basis on caste, creed, race or religion.

WE HOLD THIS TRUTH TO BE SACRED AND UNDENIABLE; THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL AND INDEPENDENT , THAT FROM THAT EQUAL CREATION THEY DERIVE RIGHTS INHERENT AND INALIENABLE, AMONG WHICH ARE THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

The death of Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse who spent 42 years in a vegetative state after being raped and gagged with a dog chain that left her in coma for 42 years and strangled in a Mumbai hospital, has many asking if India can overcome the legal and moral hurdles to allow euthanasia.

The death ended decades of pain and trauma for the 67 year old Shanbaug who remained immobilised in a single hospital room after the brutal sexual assault left her blind and severely brain damaged.

The Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition seeking to legally end Shanbaug’s life in 2011. Since then, much of the debate on legalising euthanasia has revolved around her story. And even in her death, Shanbaug seems to have sparked discussions on the “right to die” in the country. Her tragic story highlights not one but many issues. As The Asian Age puts it, she became a “symbol of all that is wrong with our male-dominated society”.

“Her tormentor” – a sweeper in the hospital – spent only seven years in jail and “society probably forgot about the beast after he was set free”. That was in the 1970s. But looking at the recent cases of sexual assault against women in India, not much seems to have changed.

“The man who assaulted Aruna and left her for dead, walked out of jail, unencumbered by law or conscience.”

Nobody can really know how it feels to lose volition over life and limb, to never be able to speak another word or see the world with a coherent gaze. To lose in one decisive moment, a lifetime of productive work, companionship, just the ordinariness of being married and raising children, brewing a cup of tea after a bath, feeling safe in the world.

India has thousands of patients who live lives worse than death but legal restrictions don’t allow them a way out. Most lawmakers take a sympathetic view on the issue, but fear that a legal “right to die” can be misused in a country where judiciary and government processes are not always efficient.

I am not going to give a speech on women empowerment or something similar to deepika padukone’s video. But this is just a feeling of a 16 year old girl i.e. me.

Why girls are taught shame. Close your legs, Cover Yourself? Why girls are taught how to behave? Why girls are not allowed to go outside home after sunset? Why girls cannot be pride of family? Why girls are taken as a burden? Why girls are said- “ye to paraye ghar ki ho jaegi”? Why girls are not given equal freedom like their brothers? Why girls are not independent of their decisions? Why girls are discouraged for every outdoor activity or sports saying YOU ARE A GIRL? Why even if a rape takes place, the girl is blamed for wearing wrong clothes or bad gesture? Why a boy having many girls around is referred as CASANOVA and girls having many guys around is referred as SLUT? Why anything bad done by a boy is referred as cool and something bad done by a girl is referred as SHAMEFUL? Why boys drinking Alcohol or Smoking is FUN and girls doing the same is DISGRACEFUL? Why girls even after facing so much difficulties don’t get the respect they deserve? Why girls have to go through so much pain and yet are made feel as though by being born female, they are already guilty of something? Why girls grow up to be women who cannot say they have desire, who silence themselves, who cannot say what they truly think?

These are the questions which every girl has in their mind and i have not brought various important issues like female foeticide, girl education and all. But these are the questions of a 16 year old girl living in National Capital. Can anyone answer?

Now there is a strong urge to make a change in mindset and I request all the men to think think and think.. what is the girl’s fault? Why can’t men change their mentality so that every woman can live peacefully and happily. And i would like to ask all the girls to move forward and take the initiative for a change. Because if we won’t step forward then no one else will bother to take an initiative.

Strong women don’t play victim, don’t make themselves look pitiful and don’t point fingers. They stand and they deal. #Bethechange

This is a photo of Rupali Kaur who posted this on Instagram herself and this picture was deleted by Instagram twice by stating that this picture is against the community guidelines.

They deleted a photo of a woman who is fully covered and menstruating, stating that it goes against community guidelines when their guidelines outline that it is nothing but acceptable, the girl is fully clothed, the photo is of her own and it is not attacking a certain group nor is it spam and because it does not break those guidelines she posted it again. This girl didn’t apologize for not feeding the ego and pride of misogynist society that will have her body in an underwear but not be okay with a small leak, when the pages of Instagram are filled with countless photos/accounts where women (so many who are underage) are objectified, pornified and treated less than human.

Women bleed each month to help make humankind a possibility, her womb is home to the divine, a source of life for our species, whether she choose to create or not but very few times it is seen that way. In older civilizations this blood was considered holy in some it still is but a majority of people, societies and communities shun this natural process. Some are more comfortable with the pornification of women, the sexualization of women, the violence and degradation of women than this. They cannot be bothered to express their disgust about all that but will be angered and bothered by this. We menstruate and they see it as dirty, attention seeking, sick, a burden as if this process is less natural than breathing, as if it is not a bridge between this universe and the last, as if this process is not love, labour, life, selfless and strikingly beautiful.

This image was a part of a photoseries project by Rupali Kaur for her visual rhetoric course. You can view the full series and read the full article at http://www.rupikaur.com

An illogical, misguided outrage has gripped India. Indignant people are railing against a rapist given primetime TV slots, so the country can know his point of view. How is it — angry people are demanding — that channels be so TRP hungry, they’re willing to allow this disturbed man’s innermost thoughts be broadcast on TV? What do they hope to get from this, other than insult the memory of the one who has been immortalised (against her wishes) as India’s Braveheart? ‪#‎nirbhayainsulted‬ they hashtagged, when we gave her rapist so much publicity.

So, you are outraged that a documentary on rapists has been made, and is being broadcast. You, and your sensibilities, count themselves among luminaries in the feminist movement, the government, other activists and lawyers. You think the FIR filed by the police saying this film “contains offensive content which should not be broadcast in the interest of maintaining public order,” is absolutely correct, and this kind of free publicity should not be given to rapists, to avoid copycat crimes.

But do you know what outraged me more than a rapist saying, “she should not have fought back when she was raped”? The fact that this man thought women in India were made for housework, and housekeeping, and roaming in discos and bars at night was wrong.

What shocked me more than this rapist/monster/demon being interviewed on primetime TV, was that his lawyer — a man NOT in jail so we can’t automatically demonise him as a criminal and bay for his head in a noose — compared the victim, and by association every woman on the streets of this godforsaken country, to sweets on a streets getting eaten by dogs.

These are not views held by psychopathic killers, dear offended people. These are views held, in varying degrees of militancy, by a majority of this country. Which is why the rapist has, as Leslee Udwin stated, no remorse. He doesn’t think he and his friends did anything wrong that night, because the girl was asking for it… doing the wrong things, wearing the wrong clothes.

Instead of being insulted that this British journalist doesn’t want to make films on rapists from her own country, and trying to hide from (and hide) the horrors of this man’s mind, should we not try to understand why rape happens? No amount of foreign aid towards women’s causes, laws, or death penalties on one level, and advise to cover up, not be on the streets at night alone, self-defence classes and safety apps on another, will help us if we don’t exhume the problem. Men, and their sense of male-ness.

How about for once we turn the focus around. We talk about men, the rapists, the law makers, the police. We address everyday misogyny in men, both conscious and unconscious, so they learn to be less like the “thorns” that attack the “lovely flowers” that are women. Those are analogies from the defence attorney himself, I kid you not.

As a woman I am sick of having to take on all the responsibility of protecting myself. I am sick of apps that help me get home safe, and aid to save the girl child. I am sick of self-defence classes, and CCTV cameras. I am sick of mace, and pepper spray.

Educate men to stop raping. Put money into that. But before we do that, let’s understand what makes men and society at large, think that it’s okay for women to bear brunt of saving ourselves against assault, with a series of preventive measures that hinder our lives.

Why should men not be banned from walking the streets? Why are they considered so uncontrollable? Men are also intelligent beings who can think, read, learn and understand. We don’t live in a jungle, with unpredictable animals. And even animals have rules.

It’s time campaigns were aimed solely at them. It’s time to Save the Boy Child — from becoming a rapist, at the worst, or a misguided friend insisting you shouldn’t leave work late at night, at the best.

And it’s only through documentaries like India’s Daughter that we will be able to begin understanding how a rapist’s mind works, what propels him to act in such a way, what his context is.

I am sick of bandaid measures. I want to watch that documentary. I want to understand why rapes, sexual assaults and harassment happens. What drives men across our country to commit these crimes, every single day? Why is violence against women such a huge problem, with no cure in sight?

And then after this understanding, I want a solution to these problem. So stop wasting time in parliament, oh hallowed MP, stop wasting air time with your indignant shouting, oh, over excited anchor, and let’s get real work done. And dear well intentioned police, the only offence you are causing by filing FIRs to ban the film, is to women. By letting men like him remain hidden, almost protected by law, and prison. Let the world know how insane he is. Let every crevice of his mind be dissected and discussed, and only then can we find a cure to this malady.

Like a rare angry, pro-documentary tweet said, “We need a change in mindsets.” But mindset kaun change karega? Mera sasur?” They aren’t wrong though. Change does begin at home, instead of at ridiculous hashtags like #NirbhayaInsulted.

And since we are talking for her, I think Nirbhaya, instead of being insulted would be proud to know some steps are being taken towards solving our country’s very disturbing problems of rape and violence against women, from it’s roots. From the insides of a man’s mind.

Go ahead and guess the gender of Sakshi Maharaj first. Boom! He’s not a female!
Yes, in India, we have a chaotic mixture of names of both the genders.
Supposedly, he is some ‘baba’ and surprisingly, he is an MP. I don’t know how these people get voted for. This really surprises me. But, hey, after all, anything is possible here in our country and this only happens in India.

He stated a fact which amused me at first and then horrified me later. He stated that every Hindu woman should produce four children so that the Hindu population could increase. This amused me. But the fact that he belongs to the ruling party and he is an MP seriously horrifies me. Is it right for a ‘so called’ leader to say something like this? Now, is this not hindutva? What else is he spreading?
Alright, we are educated people and we simply laughed off this stupid comment. But there are people who may get influenced. People from other sections of society may feel inferior by this comment. We must remember that this is a secular nation. If some low witted baba, who is also an MP of the ruling party, asks for the increase in the Hindu population, what do we interpret? The fact that he himself is a bachelor is a more hilarious fact.

So, the BJP now claims that a notice has been issued to him. But Mr. Sakshi Maharaj says that he did not receive anything from the party and that it was the BJP’s internal matter. What exactly is happening? Are we being made a fool of?
This close relationship between the BJP and the RSS can really prove to be deadly.

The recent terrorist attacks in Paris were devastating. Masked gunmen opened fire in the offices of a French satirical newspaper with initial reports saying that as many as 12 people had been killed and 10 wounded.

The French magazine often published nude cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. This is clearly an insult to Islam which should not have been done. This is totally pathetic. France is a country from which secularism originated. They should have maintained it. All religions should be treated equally and the religious beliefs of all persons should be kept in mind. The magazine did not only hurt the sentiments of the people following that religion, but also triggered terrorist activity at large. If proper action had been taken to stop this insensitive act, many terrorist attacks could have been avoided.

They say, they were practicing their right to freedom of expression and speech. However, a distinction must be made between freedom of expression and misuse of freedom of expression. According to universal law, people should not be allowed to use their freedoms and rights to hurt the feelings of other people and specially feelings of faith. Religious sentiments of people matter a lot. Hence, the magazine undoubtedly set off a time bomb, that had to blast some day or the other.

However, I strongly condemn the attacks. They shouldn’t have taken the law in their own hands. The terrorists stated that they avenged the Prophet. This is not the case. Islam is a religion of peace. The Quran is against violence. Even Allah is against violence. The terrorists are not only deceiving Allah, but also deceiving the followers of Islam. The terrorists preach wrong and carry out wrong in the name of God. This is insanity.
Terrorism is a disease. It is an epidemic.

Kashmir, as we call it, is a paradise on earth. It is undoubtedly a famous tourist destination of the country. However, now the scenario is different. The valley is not crowded by tourists, but by shootings, bombings and killings everyday. And now, it is the most famous terrorist destination of the country.

From a distance, it seems as a heaven on earth but is actually a living hell for the local people there. Their lives are shattered due to the daily firing, bombings, curfews, clashes and conflicts.

Kashmir must be restored to its glory and grandeur. The Political Parties must stop the selfish act of playing dirty politics on this sensitive issue of Kashmir. If peace and order is maintained, it will not take long enough to establish the valley as more tourist friendly than terrorist friendly.